Has it really been a month since our last Tweetup? You should know the drill by now- This coming Thursday- August 21- the Harrisburg Bloggers/Twitterers/Social Networking gurus decend on the deck at The Abbey Bar at Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg from 7 til (at least) 9PM and discuss everything from blogging to responsible media to local [...]

This is your friendly neighborhood blogHarrisburg Tweetup reminder for August 2008:   We’re getting together this Thursday, 8/21/08, at our usual digs at The Abbey Bar (upstairs at Applachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg).  We get started around 7pm and wrap up around 9, though ABC is open as late as you care to stay.  As always, these meetups are open to the entire blogHarrisburg crew, as well as anyone from / around Central PA with a Twitter account.  If the weather holds — and it looks like it will — we’ll be outside on the deck for what will probably be the last summer-weather meetup of the year. You don’t have to otherwise know anybody in the group to drop by.  Fresh faces are always welcome — new people show up every month!  In fact, judging by the progressive growth of the past few months, August should be pretty friggin’ huge. This month we’ll be doing some unofficial roundtable chatting about advertising and revenue generation for blogs.  I don’t consider myself an expert on the matter, but since my site pulls in about 3x its hosting costs from AdSense, I figure I’m at least qualified enough to handle the basics.  And anyone with experience to share is welcome to contribute.  I’ll try to have a simple takeaway prepared with enough information to get new bloggers up and running with ads. So mark your calendars, tweet your friends (self-appointed “Tweetup cheerleader” @Kathleen_LD, I’m looking at you here), and drop by for an evening of food, drink, and social merriment!  Feel free to post any questions or feedback in the comments.

I think that Napster, which begat Kazaa, which begat Limewire, which eventually somehow got us to iTunes, has done great things for musical variety. My sense is that everyone who doesn’t live in New York City, Milwaukee or Austin occasionally gripes about their local music scene, but to me, this weekend is the perfect example of how far we’ve come in certain respects. This weekend there are a bunch of different bands playing original music all over the area in a bunch of different genres. The easy availability of music has allowed people to explore different kinds of stuff that they would never have bothered with before. Today, we have tools like Pandora and iTunes that introduce us to new music all of the time, and as a result, we are more open to trying new things. With that in mind, this weekend is a great opportunity to try new things, because off the top of my head, I know you have the opportunity to listen to Roots Blues, Jam, Parisian String Jazz, Classical Bluegrass and Retro Brit-Pop live in Central Pennsylvania within the next few days. Events-wise, Friday night is all about music, or at the very least, musicals. The Whitaker Center has the feel-good fem-rock musical Girls Night, and their own description of the show tells me that it’s the “perfect treat for women of all ages.” Sorry guys, you’re not invited. The show is about a group of forty-something women out for a night of karaoke. If that doesn’t appeal to you, you could always actually go out for a night of karaoke. Or go watch either Hoots and Hellmouth at Gullifty’s or The Juice at the Abbey Bar. Hoots and Hellmouth plays gritty, rootsy music that definitely has a place on my iPod. The Juice is a jam band, and though I don’t have tons of knowledge about their brand of music, they remind me a bit of the Disco Biscuits. Saturday marks the beginning of Chivalry and Romance weekend at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, so take that special someone to Mount Hope to do all kinds of mushy stuff. Or if you don’t have a special someone, go yourself and enter the wooing contest. Who knows what you’ll come home with if you win. Also on Saturday is the Kids and Kritters benefit at Jackson’s Junction, which features tons of live music including the Brit-pop outfit The Tamboureens, who I absolutely love. If you have a lot of hair and need a trim, you could also stop by the Locks of Love Cut-a-Thon at the Capitol City Mall. If you don’t have that much hair and love peaches as much as I do, don’t miss the Peach Festival at New Hope Church in Harrisburg. Millions of peaches, peaches for me, millions of peaches, peaches for free. On Sunday, an absolutely brilliant bluegrass band from Alaska named Bearfoot(pictured) will be playing in Fort Hunter’s Sunset Series. Seriously, seriously beautiful music. Parisian string jazz quintet the Gadjo Playboys will also be playing outside as the latest installment in the Italian Lake Concert Series. As for me, I’ll be packing Friday night, moving during the day on Saturday and hopefully checking out a new restaurant and a new bottle of wine when all the boxes are empty. Have fun kids.

Upcoming Shows page has been updated. Check out the goodness here

First- a big thanks to all who showed the love this past Friday night at The Abbey Bar at Appalachian Brewing Company for our eight band extravaganza. Shows like last Friday’s are never meant to be a money-maker for me, personally, as a promoter. With eight bands, one DJ duo, two sound rigs, two sound guys, [...]

Here’s something of a “best week ever” recap of the past six days in the life of Jersey Mike- Friday night, The Hackensaw Boys played a ripping, blistering two sets to an always warm and welcoming crowd at The Abbey Bar at Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg. Saturday morning, they found themselves awake in their hotel room- [...]